Bella Italia: The Soffritti Aspartame Study

The Europeans have the United States beat hands-down when it comes to respectable research on chemical food additives. Why? Well, I have ! opinions, and it depends upon with whom you spea". any scientists at presti#ious $merican universities will tell you they cannot #et #rants for continued research on aspartame or Splenda%, or their department heads have been told to drop all discussions on the topic. Some will say aspartame research isn&t worth the effort because they cannot #et published in $merican scientific 'ournals. (thers claim the research centers constructed by the lar#e corporations, such as )u"e University&s Searle *esearch +enter, were desi#ned with mana#ed research as a construction proviso. So, we've crossed the pond for some of the most pro#ressive and hi#hly respected academic research on aspartame currently performed. )r. orando Soffritti of the +esare altoni +ancer *esearch +enter, European *ama,,ini -oundation of (ncolo#y and Environmental Sciences, has performed such esteemed wor". This research, nonetheless, is not surprisin# news to the independent research scientists in the United States who studied the dan#ers of aspartame over ./ years a#o. 0See ori#inal report1 0 )r. Soffritti honored1 )r. 2ohn (lney, Washin#ton School of edicine, )r. *ichard Wurtman, IT, )r. )iana )ow-Edwards, SU3! 3ew !or", and )r. Woodrow onte, $ri,ona State University are but a few of these renown aspartame researchers. Their laboratory studies resulted in findin#s such as holes 0lesions1 in the brains of lab rats fed aspartame in the early 456/s, deformed fetuses and lab pups born with lower I7s from aspartame consumed in utero, nerve dama#e, sei,ures, and death as a result of aspartame administered durin# research studies performed in The United States. 8ut this research has been pushed bac" from the public eye receivin# little attention. eanwhile, corporate research and advertisers have financially pressed on, harder and louder, than the independent science. 3ot so in Europe these days... The Soffritti Study is the most recent e9perimental demonstration of the multipotential carcino#enic effects of aspartame administered in feed to Spra#ue-)awley rats. The primary scientists performin# this study are )rs. orando Soffritti, -iorella 8elpo##i, )avide )e#li Esposti, :uca :ambertini, Eva Tibaldi, and $nna *i#ano4. The US 3ational To9icolo#y ;ro#ram 03T;1 provided a second opinion on the research results, and helped in the final statistical analysis. Each of the ori#inal authors of the study defends they did not have competin# financial interests in relation to the submitted article, <as has been e9pressed in other aspartame studies,< they write. The results of this me#a-e9periment indicate aspartame is a multipotential carcino#enic a#ent, even at a daily dose of =/ m#>"# b.w. 0milli#rams per "ilo#rams per body wei#ht1, much less than the current $)I 0$vera#e )aily Inta"e1 for humans in Europe 0?/ m#>"# b.w.1 and in the United States 0@/ m#>"# b.w.1. (n the basis of these research results, the Italian research team has recommended a re-evaluation of the present #uidelines on the use and consumption of aspartame as <urgent and cannot be delayed.< $spartame was administered with feed to A wee"-old Spra#ue-)awley rats 04//-4@/>se9>#roup number>#ender>#roups1 at concentrations of 4//,///B @/,///B 4/,///B =,///B ?//B A/ and / ppm 0parts per million1. The treatment lasted until natural death, at which time all deceased animals underwent complete necropsy 0autopsy1. Cistopatholo#ical evaluations 0the study of body tissues relatin# to disease1 of all patholo#ical lesions and of all or#ans and tissues collected from the laboratory specimens were routinely performed on each animal of all e9perimental #roups. The results of the study show aspartame causesD

41 $n increased incidence of mali#nant tumor-bearin# animals with a positive si#nificant trend in males and females, in particular those females treated at @/,/// ppm =1 $n increase in lymphomas and leu"emias with a positive si#nificant trend in both males and females, in particular in females treated at doses of 4//,///, @/,///, 4/,///, =,///, ?// ppm .1 $ statistically si#nificant increased incidence with a positive si#nificant trend of transitional cell carcinomas of the renal pelvis and ureter 0urethra throu#h the bladder1, and their precursors 0dysplasias1 in females treated at 4//,///, @/,///, 4/,///, =,/// and ?// ppm ?1 $n increased incidence of mali#nant schwannomas of peripheral nerves with a positive trend in males In this particular study, the number of animals per se9 per #roup was much #reater, allowin# a more thorou#h and reliable statistical analysis. Secondly, uniEue to the Italian e9periment, the lab rodents were not "illed at the typical 44/ wee"s of a#e, but rather were observed until their natural deaths to allow the aspartame to fully e9press its carcino#enic potential. <Cad we stopped the e9periments at 44/ wee"s of a#e,< writes )r. Soffritti, <we would most li"ely never have demonstrated the carcino#enicity of important industrial compounds.< The Italian study has scientifically shown aspartame is a multipotential carcino#enic compound whose carcino#enic effects are evident at a daily dose of =/ m#>"# b.w., much less than the current $)I for humans in Europe 0?/ m#>"# b.w.1 and in the United States 0@/ m#>"# b.w.1. The study also demonstrates the results of carcino#enicity bioassays in rodents are consistent predictors of human cancer ris"s=. The results of the study call for an ur#ent re-e9amination of the present #uidelines on the use and consumption of aspartame. <The decision to use e9perimental data to protect public health is important,< state the researchers, <as the time span of widespread aspartame use is still too brief to have produced solid epidemiolo#ic data.< < oreover,< they add, <it is unli"ely that sufficient epidemiolo#ical data will be available in the near future, #iven the difficulty of findin# a control #roup that has not been e9posed to this widely diffused compound.< -or the complete research te9t, visit this lin".
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Soffritti, - 8elpo##i, )) Esposti, : :ambertini, E Tibaldi, and $ *i#ano. )(I,4/.4=A5>ehp.A644. $vailable at httpD>>d9.doi.or#>. (nline 46 3ovember =//@. = Cuff. 4555B Tomatis et al. 45A5B *all 455@. ;osted -ebruary =//F G ;ermanent :in"